EU officials on Wednesday attacked pharmaceutical firm AstraZeneca, but failed to reach commitments to address a “massive” deficit in coronavirus vaccine production that will leave the bloc at least 75 million doses below expectations in the first three months of 2021.
“We regret the lack of clarity in the delivery schedule and ask AstraZeneca for a clear plan for the speedy delivery of the number of vaccines we reserved for the first quarter,” said EU Health Commissioner Stella Kyriakides. he tweeted after a meeting on Wednesday evening that included an unexpected appearance by AstraZeneca CEO Pascal Soriot.
Kyriakides insisted the European Commission would work with the company “to find solutions and administer vaccines quickly for EU citizens”. But the insurance seemed pretty empty after a day when the EU threatened legal action, brandished the prospect of restrictions on vaccine exports and blew up Soriot and his company for failing to meet their “obligations. contractual, social and moral “, only to leave the meeting empty-handed.
The fact that no concrete repairs were obtained by the company certainly increased political tensions in the 27 EU member states, with the coronavirus pandemic still plummeting and political leaders under increasing pressure to explain why the The EU has lagged behind countries such as Israel and the United States. and especially the United Kingdom in the deployment of vaccines to citizens.
Tensions are particularly high over the situation in the UK, where AstraZeneca is located and where the company manufactures its vaccine in two factories that appear to be operating at full tilt. Currently, the United Kingdom receives all scheduled deliveries of these plants after the first problems that during the last month the company sent vaccines to Britain that were manufactured in factories in the Netherlands and Germany.
In an impressive interview with La Repubblica on Tuesday, Soriot blamed the EU for being three months slower than the UK in finalizing its vaccine purchase agreements, which AstraZeneca developed in conjunction with Oxford University, and said the UK government was rightly expecting all vaccine doses to be produced. within its borders it would remain in the foreseeable future.
At a news conference on Wednesday, Kyriakides bluntly accused AstraZeneca of breaching its contractual obligations and demanded that the company do whatever was necessary, including redirecting supplies from UK factories to fill the UK deficit. continent. He also insisted that Britain had no priority claims on vaccines manufactured in its territory.
“Not being able to ensure manufacturing capacity is contrary to the letter and spirit of our agreement,” said Kyriakides, who added, “We regret the logic of first come, first served.” This may work for neighborhood butchers, but not in contracts or in our advance purchase agreements. ”
In London, Prime Minister Boris Johnson made it clear that he did not want to take part in the EU dispute and did not indicate any willingness to lend a hand to Brussels. “We are very confident in our supplies,” Johnson said on Wednesday when asked about the EU’s dose claim in the UK “We are very confident in our contracts and will move forward on that basis.”
Asked about the EU pressure on AstraZeneca, Johnson said: “The Oxford / AstraZeneca vaccine is obviously very important for our country and for the world. The issue at hand is from our EU friends and AstraZeneca.”
Money is important
Despite Soriot’s criticism that the EU was late in committing to buying his company’s vaccine, in fact, four EU countries had reached an agreement with AstraZeneca last June, shortly after the UK signed his initial contract in May.
But the details did not matter, as it was clear that the EU had little influence over the company despite having allocated 336 million euros to help it develop the vaccine and prepare to produce it in large quantities, until and all before receiving formal approval from the European Medicines Agency, which is expected on Friday.
The Commission has not yet disbursed the full 336 million euros; there is still a “good chunk” left, an EU official said, “not just a few cents”. Another Commission official said the Commission would “chase” the company for a refund.
But withholding or recovering money will not show any consolation, given that what EU heads of state and government need – and what their citizens are asking for – is the vaccine.
And, on this front, it seemed like little Brussels could do to get more doses immediately.
Commission officials acknowledged that litigation would take years. “This is not the focus of our attention,” said another EU official. “The focus of our attention is on contract execution now because vaccines are needed now, not in two years.”
Meanwhile, in the European Parliament, Pascal Canfin, chairman of the health committee plans to drag The CEOs of AstraZeneca, Pfizer and Moderna participate in the hearing.
Hoarding problems
Although the EU plans to impose new export controls (initially aimed at determining exactly how much vaccine is being produced and where manufacturers plan to send it), if a too hard line is taken in this regard. front could go back.
Already leaders in other parts of the world, such as South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, are accusing the EU and richer countries of hoarding vaccines and denying access to developing nations. And there are other EU partners and allies, including G7 member Canada, who rely at least in part on the production of EU vaccines for supply.
Far from being heavily armed, AstraZeneca only reiterated its plan to administer the vaccine as quickly as possible. The company, which has production facilities around the world, also expressed no concern about possible export restrictions.
“Our CEO, Pascal Soriot, had the pleasure of attending a meeting with the EU vaccine board this evening,” a company spokesman said in a statement on Wednesday evening. “We had a constructive and open conversation about the complexity of increasing our vaccine production and the challenges we encountered. We are committed to even closer coordination to jointly chart a path for the delivery of our vaccine over the coming months as we continue our efforts to bring this vaccine to millions of non-profit Europeans during the pandemic. ”
Soriot’s participation in the meeting also indicated the relative confidence of the company, despite rain of criticism from Brussels for the comments Soriot made in his interview with the newspaper.
AstraZeneca had told the Commission by email on Tuesday that it would not attend the Board meeting, as it had no new information to share. The company later reversed course and said it would be attended by its executive vice president responsible for Europe and Canada.
Word war contract
AstraZeneca’s so balanced statement was a stark contrast to the heated rhetoric that came out on Wednesday in the Commission’s press room, where hundreds of journalists tuned in for a series of press conferences and technical-focused meetings. overwhelming to the vaccine dispute.
In his press conference, Kyriakides tried to take a hard line. “Let me be clear,” he said, “the 27 member states of the European Union are united that AstraZeneca must fulfill its commitments in our agreements. We are in a pandemic. We are losing people every day. They are not figures or statistics. “They are people with family, friends and co-workers who are also affected. Pharmaceutical companies, vaccine developers, have moral, social and contractual responsibilities that they have to maintain.”
And he was especially concerned about Soriot’s claim that AstraZeneca had no obligation to deliver a specific number of doses, but only to do its “best effort.”
“The view that the company is not obligated to deliver because we have signed an agreement on the‘ best effort ’is not correct nor is it acceptable,” Kyriakides said.
She and other Commission officials insisted that EU purchasing agreements do not differentiate between AstraZeneca plants in the UK and those in EU countries, and said the Commission would never have agreed to an agreement based solely on in a factory.
They insisted that AstraZeneca had made clear commitments to Brussels and was also aware of its obligations to the UK and rejected vague claims of production problems at a factory in Belgium as an insufficient excuse for a deficit they said which would leave the EU with only 25% of planned vaccine deliveries during the first quarter.
An official suggested that AstraZeneca had tricked the EU into its capabilities. “Only last Friday did we find out that, as you know, there was a real massive deficit and that it really is something that is not acceptable,” the official said.
When the Commission struggled to manage the situation, it suddenly found itself changing some long-standing positions. After months of insisting on confidentiality, it was absolutely essential for the success of vaccine purchase agreements, the Commission said it demanded AstraZeneca make public its contract with the EU, saying it would reject Soriot’s claims.
Last week, some EU heads of state and government had expressed strong anger against Pfizer, another vaccine maker, over the temporary slowdown in production at the Belgium plant. But on Tuesday, the Commission praised Pfizer for treating its problems better than AstraZeneca.
Commission officials also acknowledged that they had developed their contract with AstraZeneca for vaccine production in Europe specifically to avoid the risk of export restrictions being imposed by former U.S. President Donald Trump. Only now is the Commission moving forward with its own export restrictions.
But a senior EU official said the main goal of the bloc was not really to focus on any such complexity. “What really interests us (you have to realize that) is not the controversy over this or that aspect,” the senior official said. “We want to have the vaccines. We want to find the solution with the company.”
Charlie Cooper and Florian Eder contributed the information.
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